For those who reside in the outer regions of Aleria, the day of bestowal is what determines their destiny.
It is the holy day of the Goddess. The day that allows those of age to step forward and receive her blessing, to embark on the path that she has chosen for them. To receive their Classification, which dictates their strength and ability. For those people, the holy day of bestowal represents fate itself.
For Dante, it represents salvation.
Years have past since he found himself abandoned without memories. Years of hunger, ostracization, and solitude on the streets of Alazel without any hope of reprieve. Of entrapment at the hands of the creatures that roamed the wilds beyond the city walls that made leaving impossible.
Now, there is a chance for everything to change.
In a cruel world where power could be gained through slaughter, strength meant everything. For Dante, that meant that the last his hopes lay in the Goddess’ blessing. A combat Classification would be a lifeline, a way for him to escape the hell he had been living in. Anything else would only mean death.
My Opinion: 452 pages, $3.99, Not Available on Kindle Unlimited
This novel started out as a serial story on the Royal Road and this novel contains the first 57 chapters of that 120+ chapter serial story. It’s been cleaned up and edited. The novel description only really describes the first 1% of the story.
This is an action LitRPG story set on a world ruled by RPG mechanics it transitions into magical academy stuff with political intrigue.
I thought the beginning of this novel was fantastic. It’s quickly introduces you to an character you can empathize with, an antagonist to dislike, and establishes world and RPG rules. The RPG game theory thinking of the main character (MC), Dante, are in depth and was really fun to see such detailed descriptions and well thought out bonuses for the classifications. There’s loads of great action including a unique take on dungeon diving.
The novel lost me a little at about the 30% mark when it switched to a more magical academy storyline. It also loses a lot of the RPG progression. However, it brings in a ton of political intrigue, magical theory, lots of great world building, and still keeps the action going. The last arc of the story wanders a little, but the RPG progression and class theory returns in spades.
The end shows off the serial roots of the story not really providing a firm resolution but it is a nice break point.
Overall, I had a good time reading this in one sitting 8 hour read through. The action is top notch and the RPG mechanics blend wonderfully with the world building. I’m not personally a big fan of political intrigue but this does that pretty well and if you like that stuff, you’ll love this novel.
Score: 7 out of 10